1.1 Exam Blueprint, Marking Scheme & Qualifying Cutoffs

1.1 Exam Blueprint, Marking Scheme & Qualifying Cutoffs

The Chhattisgarh State Eligibility Test (CG SET) decides who is eligible to apply for Assistant Professor posts in universities and colleges in Chhattisgarh. It is conducted for the Directorate of Higher Education, Chhattisgarh by the Chhattisgarh Staff Selection Board (CGSSB), Raipur, the body formerly called the Chhattisgarh Professional Examination Board (Chhattisgarh Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal, popularly "CG Vyapam"). The CG SET 2026 examination instructions (परीक्षा निर्देश, No. SSB/Exam F-20/2026/3150, dated 22 July 2026) describe CGSSB as "formerly Vyapam", and SET notices appear on both cgssb.cgstate.gov.in and the older vyapamcg.cgstate.gov.in portal.

CG SET is a qualifying test, not a recruitment examination. Passing it does not give anyone a job; it makes a candidate eligible to apply when universities, colleges or the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission advertise Assistant Professor posts. Under the UGC Guidelines for the State Eligibility Test (SET), 2023, which the departmental advertisement says will govern any dispute, a SET certificate is valid forever, but only for posts in universities and colleges situated in the state where the SET was cleared (this applies to every SET held from 1 June 2002 onward).

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CG SET 2026 at a Glance

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Paper I vs. Paper II

The notice's examination scheme (परीक्षा पद्धति) sets out two papers of objective multiple-choice questions, and every question is compulsory:

The printed time slots are 15 minutes longer than the stated paper durations. Plan your pacing on the official durations (1 hour and 2 hours) and treat the extra slot time as administrative time. The two papers are held in separate morning and afternoon sittings, not back-to-back.

Paper I: General Paper on Teaching and Research Aptitude

The notice describes Paper I as a general paper that assesses the candidate's teaching and research aptitude, together with reasoning ability, comprehension, divergent thinking and general awareness. All 50 questions must be answered, each worth 2 marks. The SET26 syllabus page publishes the Paper I syllabus in Hindi and English under the title General Paper on Teaching & Research Aptitude. The UGC SET Guidelines 2023 require Paper I to be common to all subjects and based on the UGC syllabus, which has ten units:

1. Teaching Aptitude
2. Research Aptitude
3. Comprehension
4. Communication
5. Mathematical Reasoning and Aptitude
6. Logical Reasoning
7. Data Interpretation
8. Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
9. People, Development and Environment
10. Higher Education System

The UGC Paper I syllabus notes that five 2-mark questions are to be set from each unit, and that whenever graphical or pictorial questions are set for sighted candidates, visually impaired candidates receive passage-based questions of equal number and weight. Treat "five per unit" as a planning baseline, because individual papers can vary slightly.

Paper II: Subject Paper

Paper II contains 100 objective questions (2 marks each) on the entire syllabus of the subject the candidate chooses. The SET26 syllabus page lists 30 subjects: Hindi, English, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, History, Geography, Physical Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Life Sciences, Computer Science & Applications, Commerce, Law, Sanskrit, Psychology, Library and Information Science, Physical Education, Home Science, Earth, Atmospheric, Ocean and Planetary Sciences, Anthropology, Music, Performing Arts (Dance, Drama, Theatre), Fine Arts & Sculpture (Visual Arts), Yoga, Public Administration, Defence and Strategic Studies, Philosophy, Management, and Mass Communication & Journalism.

UGC guidelines require SET subject syllabi to match UGC-NET (or the joint CSIR-UGC test for the basic sciences), and they require question papers other than language papers to be printed bilingually, in English and Hindi.

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Marking, OMR and Answer-Key Rules

• Scoring: +2 for each correct answer and no negative marking in either paper.
• OMR evaluation: answer sheets are machine-read, so the notice provides no re-totalling or re-evaluation.
• Pens: candidates bring a black or blue ballpoint pen; darken each bubble cleanly and completely.
• Model answers and objections: after the exam CGSSB publishes model answers. Objections (दावा-आपत्ति) are filed online only by logging in with your profile ID and date of birth, at ₹50 per question, one question per objection, with documentary evidence. A guidebook is not accepted as proof, and objections sent by post, email or in person are rejected.
• Final answers: subject experts decide the objections; the final key is released with the result and cannot be challenged again.
• Deleted questions: a question is deleted if its structure is wrong, no option is correct, its Hindi and English versions differ so that no option is correct, or a printing error prevents a correct answer. The marks for a deleted question are given to all candidates as bonus marks. If more than one option is correct, every correct option is accepted.

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The Qualifying Rule

The notice states the result criterion in these words: "TOP 6% of the appearing candidates who appear in Paper I & Paper II both and secure at least 40% aggregate marks in both the papers taken together for candidates belonging to General Category and at least 35% aggregate marks for candidates belonging to reserved categories, viz. SC, ST, OBC (belonging to Non Creamy Layer) & PWD and Transgender will be declared qualified for eligibility for Assistant Professor by following the reservation policy of the State Government."

Read it as two filters:

1. Minimum aggregate across both papers: at least 40% for General candidates (120 of 300 marks) and at least 35% for SC, ST, OBC (non-creamy layer), PwD and transgender candidates (105 of 300 marks). There is no separate pass mark for each paper; only the combined total counts. A General candidate with 34 in Paper I and 90 in Paper II has 124/300 (41.33%) and clears this filter.
2. Top 6%: only the top 6% of candidates who sat both papers are declared qualified, with the slots shared according to the State Government's reservation policy.

How the 6% Slots Are Worked Out (UGC Methodology)

Annexure I of the UGC SET Guidelines 2023 tells SET agencies how to prepare the result:

1. Total slots equal 6% of the candidates who appeared in all papers, across all subjects.
2. These slots are divided among categories under the state's reservation policy.
3. Within each category, slots are shared among subjects in proportion to the number of candidates in that subject and category who reached the minimum aggregate (40% or 35%), not in proportion to raw attendance:

$$\text{Subject slots} = \frac{\text{Candidates in the subject meeting the minimum}}{\text{Candidates in all subjects meeting the minimum}} \times \text{Category slots}$$

1. The result is rounded to the nearest whole number, and a subject whose share is between 0 and 1 still gets one slot.
2. The aggregate percentage of the candidate holding the last slot becomes the qualifying cut-off for that subject and category. Everyone tied at that percentage qualifies, even if this exceeds the slot count.
3. Every candidate who reaches 40% is counted when unreserved slots are calculated, whatever their category; when a reserved-category candidate qualifies in the unreserved list, that category's slot is filled from further down its own list.

Worked example (hypothetical numbers): suppose 10,000 candidates sit both papers. Total slots $= 0.06 \times 10{,}000 = 600$. If the reservation split leaves 300 unreserved slots, and 2,500 candidates statewide reach 40%, of whom 250 are in Commerce, then the unreserved Commerce slots are $\frac{250}{2500} \times 300 = 30$. The aggregate of the 30th-ranked Commerce candidate becomes that year's unreserved Commerce cut-off.

The guidelines also give third-gender candidates the same relaxations as SC, ST and PwD candidates, and set their subject-wise cut-off as the lowest among the categories in that subject.

Minimum Marks vs. Actual Cut-off

The 40% and 35% figures are a floor, not the cut-off. The real cut-off in each subject and category comes from the 6% slot calculation, so it moves every year with the number of candidates and their scores. The table below uses hypothetical numbers for a single subject:

CGSSB does not announce a cut-off in advance. Study the subject-wise cut-offs published with past CG SET results, and aim well above the 40%/35% floor, especially in subjects that attract many candidates.